Buffalo lawn tips & tricks

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Melissa - General Lawn Turf Blogs, North Queensland Lawns

Buffalo lawns, including Sir Walter, require a few tips and tricks to keep them in ultimate health and condition.

Fertilising

Soft leaf Buffalo lawns require a good quality, year round fertilising regimen in order to keep looking at its best. Without this lawn care, a Buffalo lawn can lose its colour and health.

Fertilise every two months with a good quality lawn fertiliser at the manufacturer’s recommended application rates. Do not apply more fertiliser than recommended as this can damage the lawn.

Iron 

Buffalo lawns do enjoy a little extra iron in their diet and applying an Iron supplement once a year in spring or autumn will do fantastic things for the health of your lawn. If your Buffalo lawn is looking a little pale, is receiving enough water and is being mowed at correct heights, then it might be in need of an iron supplement.

Mowing

Regular lawn mowing is vital to the health of Buffalo grass. This will keep the lawn from developing too much thatch, will reduce any risk of scalping and damaging the lawn, will slow the Buffalo runners from creeping into surrounding gardens, and promote more green leaf growth – resulting in a more lush Soft Buffalo lawn. For some of the faster growing Buffalo lawn types such as Sir Walter, lawn mowing may need to done weekly during the active growing season of the year.

Disease

Buffalo grass can be prone to disease infections such as Brown Patch. Most of these infections will result in circular brown patches on the grass. The very best way to control these diseases is to aerate the lawn, cut the grass higher, stop fertilising during the outbreak, ensure to water only in the morning and apply wetting agents if necessary.

Watering

Watering your Buffalo lawn should only ever be done in the mornings to provide the lawn with water in the soil throughout the day when the weather is warmest and when the grass is most actively growing and to reduce the risk of fungal disease.

De-thatching

Thatch build-up can be one of the biggest long-term concerns for all Buffalo lawn owners. One of the reasons for the concern is that de-thatching by means of vertimowing can be extremely difficult with Buffalo lawns. This is because Buffalo has no underground runners to repair from, unlike other grasses like Couch and Zoysia.

Control thatch by mowing lower than normal at least once or twice a year in early spring or late autumn. Be very careful not to remove too much material with any single mowing as this could damage or even kill the lawn in areas. Take the lawn thatch down gently, and even gradually reduce the mowing height with 2-3 mowings each one week apart. After enough thatch has been removed, bring the lawn mowing back up to recommended heights of between 35-65mm.

Wetting Agents

Applying wetting agents are another one of those essential lawn care practices which all lawn owners should do at least once or twice per year. The wetting agents will act on the soil and allow more water to flow freely, disperse more evenly and hold onto water for longer in the soil in the case of hydrophobic soils.

Wetting Agents are best applied once before summer begins and once when it ends.

Learn more or order your new Buffalo lawn today at Harden Park Lawns.